Home life with an elderly Japanese lady (Okaasan) who has to live with a not-so-sweet foreign daughter-in-law (Oyomesan).

Thursday, 24 October 2013

Happy feet

She likes them - the coat and the cardigan :-)Off she set on Monday for a walk in the local shopping area, Tuesday to day care and yesterday to the local shops again - wearing them proudly.A relief that actually, I had a 30% worry that she would look at the clothes on Monday morning and not like them at all. Then we would have to go to another department store hell and spend more money.
Shonan Love - that's a joke too. ;-))So, back to walks round the local shops and tired legs that don't quite bring Okaasan home.Monday night we did the GPS tracking, phone calls and drive around to find her. There she was sitting on the concrete step outside the dry cleaning shop...."near the Korean restaurant". Last night I hunted for her and failed, then Dear Son did...and he eventually found her staggering home - she said she'd had dinner in the Korean restaurant by the station....which may be true, or not.Her legs ARE getting stronger little by little, and we are still lucky that she hasn't actually taken the subway train and gone downtown alone.

Thankyou :-) I really AM a good person you know, maybe some of my jokes seem cruel - but it's my way to use humor to deal with life. I would protect Okaasan against any danger or abuse, but every day I wish I wasn't living with her because it is boring and limiting to my life.

Well, different cultures I suppose (or cultures with different degrees of individualism and self-worship). For us, our parents and elder relatives are our life. That is, helping them and sacrificing for them is the most truly fulfilling thing there is to life - despite all the outward difficulty, unfairness and hardship. Living for oneself is nice but clearly empty.

I suppose we haven't been so Westernized as all that, yet. I'm sure it will happen eventually. Japan was the most filial society imaginable before the Occupation. Now it's on par with Western countries in its distaste for that very concept.Though it's unfair to label all this way - I have known Japanese and Westerners who were the very height of self-sacrifice and filial piety, even if they don't call it that because of the band, cold societies around them.